Mastercard has acquired CipherTrace to optimize crypto capabilities. With the acquisition of CipherTrace, Mastercard will broaden its expertise in the realm of digital assets.
Trust and security will be crucial enablers to assure broad adoption and scale as digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), become more entangled with everyday activities — from how people pay and get paid to how they invest. To ensure that the crypto economy is infused with the same trust and peace of mind that customers already feel with more traditional payment methods, these new technologies will necessitate new solutions and more sophisticated intelligence.
The integrated offering will combine CipherTrace’s digital asset management and Mastercard’s cyber security technologies to give organisations more visibility into their risks and help them manage their digital asset regulatory and compliance responsibilities.
“Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient,” said Ajay Bhalla, president, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard.
Further said, “With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe. Our aim is to build upon the complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just this.”
CipherTrace’s cutting-edge platform aids customers in enhancing their crypto-related security and fraud monitoring efforts. Due to their industry-leading data analytics and algorithms, they provide solutions for some of the world’s major banks, exchanges, and other financial institutions to assist customers convert on their possibilities across 7,000+ cryptocurrency organisations.
“We help companies – whether they are banks or cryptocurrency exchanges, government regulators or law enforcement to keep the crypto economy safe,” said Dave Jevans, CEO, CipherTrace. “Our two companies share this vision to provide security and trust throughout the ecosystem. We are thrilled to join the Mastercard family to scale CipherTrace’s reach across the globe.”
Mastercard will be able to differentiate its card and real-time payments infrastructure by combining the technology, AI, and cyber capabilities of both companies, allowing customers and stakeholders around the world to build on and benefit from the solutions to protect their consumers and comply with regulations as they develop their own virtual asset offerings.
CipherTrace will also support continuing innovation with a variety of partners, including fintechs, crypto-wallet providers, governments, and others, while also allowing the company to adhere to the principles it has established for all blockchain-related activities.
The acquisition is part of Mastercard’s digital assets strategy, which aims to give customers, merchants, and organisations additional options when it comes to moving digital value. It comes after the company made a number of investments, including crypto card partnerships with Uphold, Gemini, and BitPay, new platforms to test and support Central Bank Digital Currencies, programmes to support the broader use of blockchain technology and NFTs, and the potential to directly support select stablecoins on its network.
The agreement’s terms were not released, but it is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to certain conditions.
